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SLK 320 to SLK 500 Daves Project

168K views 3K replies 52 participants last post by  HambleSLK 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi Guys,

The Background :-

My last project, a low mileage W220 S Class which was wrecked by several local garages blowing up many modules with a power probe in an attempt to fix what turned out to be a faulty TCU :biglaugh:

I bought that Car around 3 years ago in a state of disassembly, just because someone in another local Garage said I'd never get it going 😉

It was running and MOT'd within 3 months despite having been stood in a Barn for 3 years and various bits were stripped out and just chucked in the Boot etc.

I then drove it around for a month or 2 and fell in love with it, so then decided to return it to concourse, I started off by stripping everything underneath and Undersealing (Schutzing) it, Waxoyling the cavities, etc and then time to start on the Bodywork. A little knock / scratch / scab here and there from standing in the Barn :(

I've also incorporated stuff like Android Multimedia, Facelift Lamps, Custom Exhaust and Mild Tune, Head Rest Screens with connection to Android, Full 4G Internet USB Charging Sockets etc etc.

It turned into almost a ground up restoration is now almost complete, should be totally finished after my 3 week Xmas Shutdown. and I'm already looking for the next project 😁

I currently have a V6 SLK in my Workshops, for Auto Box and ESP Problem, and after sorting the Gearbox and taking it for a test drive I thought hell, this is no "Hairdressers Convertible" >:D

Me want one to add to my MB Collection, (I currently own 3 roadworthy MB Cars) 😁

I found and put deposits on 2 Cars this week only to have my deposits returned by unscrupulous sellers because obviously they had had better offers.
These Cars were a fair way away from the remote area i live in, and they had both agreed to hold them for 2 weeks until I could get to see / buy / collect.

I'll have my SLK before long though, trying to do a deal on 1 of 2 possibles atm ;)

So, I got a load of work done today and had some time to play, hence out came the "Old" 2012 SDS and in came the R170 that I'm still waiting on a Yaw Sensor from MB Dealers.

I think it would be fair to say any of us who know Mercedes Cars will agree, by using a V6 Car as a base, dropping in a V8 from a mechanical perspective will be an absolute doddle using standard MB Parts ........................

Problems will arise when it comes to the Electronics !!

As others who have trodden this path have found, specifically with getting all the Electronics to talk to each other over CAN Bus, and also the Car builder needs to understand how the Immobilizer System works, and also the ramifications of the fact that the R170 uses DAS 2 Drive Authorisation (Mechanical Key Blade), and V8's such as W220 use DAS 3 (Infra Red Key / EIS).

I decided to look at compatibility with Electronics, Version Codings etc.

Here is my findings :-

Use the ECU from the V6 Car, now all Immo (DAS) issues are removed from the equation as well as things like the CAN Comms between ME and Instrument Cluster, ESP ABS TCU etc etc, because this V6 ECU is already matched to the Cars other Electronics !!

WHAT !! I hear you cry, but the V8 has 2 extra Injectors and Coils and being a 5.0 liter it will need different fuelling and timing etc that won't work !!

Oh yes it will, MB thoughtfully included other Engine Variants in the ECU's Programming, so all one has to do is use SDS to change the ECU Version Coding to M113 E50 🤓 EDIT :_ It isn't quite that simple see my findings in post #3, but still looking very do able !!

Transmission Control Unit Coding is a little harder, it isn't spelled out in plain English, when replacing these one needs a (not identical) but compatible part number TCU and copy the Coding from old TCU to replacement so yeah, one way or another Trans is no issue :|

I do have a sneaky feeling that by using the TCU that is on the V6 Car, (assuming one is keeping V6 Diff), then it's shift timing will be pretty close if not the same, and then Diff Ratios and Trans Gear Implausible issues will not be a problem.

I'm not certain if V6 and V8 Trannys have the same ratio Gearset, and I haven't checked the Diff Ratios either, will need to compare part numbers on WIS EPC, but none of this is an issue, by using the correct combination of parts and a little playing with Version Codings I am 101% certain that it will work 😁

If it turned into an issue I personally would fit a V6 Tranny Gearset into the V8 Trans, because that maybe has extra Clutches in it's packs to take the extra torque, or if one wishes to use the V8 TCU with V8 Trans and V8 Diff, then that should not create conflict either !!
I think for a Road Car the Diff from the V8 Car would be the one to use, again though there are a load of Codings that can be set in the ME ECU to alter Ratios and Tyre Sizes, and I believe that also applies to the TCU Coding from my experience with the S Class TCU. I expect I could get that info from MB as the TCU is a numerical Coding rather than Verbal on SDS Screen so I'd just need to know what number represents what (decode it) as it were ;)

Auto Transmissions used to be my Trade before I sold up in SE England and semi retired to NW Scotland.

ABS ESP and BAS require no version Coding, so although they Communicate to ME and probably TCU via CAN Bus they can be considered "Stand Alone" and therefore need no messing with.

Below are a load of pics from this afternoons session on SDS ;)

I'll be back soon with some more info when I've Compared the Wiring Plugs between a V8 ME 2.8 and the R170 V6 ME 2.8, my fingers are crossed right now 😁

Cheers Dave

Piccies :-
 

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#55 ·
OK, let it be said here first :grin:

The fat chick has sung on Phases 1 and 2 of the R170 Steering Wheel conversion see pics :grin:

First thing, the Airbag connectors are different shape, so first up I jury rigged the Airbag wires into the R170's clockspring Plug, Airbag sat on top of old Steering Wheel, turn Ignition on and on comes the Red Airbag "SRS" Light, start Engine off it goes just as it should, so no need for meddling with Ignitor / Bag assembly the R170 is quite happy simply plugged into the Yellow Ignitor, can leave the second "Green Plug" disconnected, and use those 2 Wire Cores for Horn when I fit the "Hybrid R171 Clockspring" this all works out a treat :smile:
Next I whipped off the old Wood Grain Steering Wheel, and test fitted the New W203 / R171 Steering Wheel, fits perfectly, even still using the R170 Clockspring so I can continue to use the Car for now just without the switches fitted (see pic) :grin:

Will soon be moving to "Phase 3", which is modify the Switch assemblymabobs to work on a resistance basis.

Pic's show where I'm at right now, that Steering Wheel fits perfectly around the Column Shroud etc etc, and the one I bought with Paddles is exactly the Same shape / size >:D

Also, now the Airbag and Steering Wheel is fitted on the Car, I can also see an alternative on how to sort the Horn Button issue without using those little Microswitches, if the current draw proves too much for them ............

I can modify it very easily so it will work exactly how it does now by adding a couple of springy copper contacts between the 2 metal bits, exactly as it worked on the Old Wheel.

I did measure the Current Draw when joining the 2 wires together, (sounding Horn), it is 0.18 Amps so there is already a Horn Relay on the Car, happy days :grin:

I'm not sure if the tiny Microswitches on the new Wheels Circuit Board thingy will stand almost 2/10ths of an Amp, what do you guys think ??

That would be the easiest route to go :smile:

Tomorrow I'm going to whip the Brake Pedal Box in and then run 3 cores from the H/U for testing purposes see what responses I get from Volume Buttons jiggery pokery hocus pocus meddling >:D

This is a useful video ..............



can't use that interface because it needs a CAN Input from Switches, but it gives me some useful ideas of what resistances to use for my Switches :nerd:

Piccies ..............
 

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#56 ·
OK, got a little more done today, these Switch Circuit boards really are tiny for my clumsy fingers and eyesight, but I've gone for the easy option on the Mk1 set, I have another set spare if needs be .....................

See the pictures, first one is the plug that goes into the switch, easy to dissect and rebuild, I plan on using pin one as my SWC Common (earth) and then 2, 3, 4, and 5 for each switch, and taking the easiest route I will solder the 4 different resistors to 2, 3, 4, and 5 then join the 4 together at the other end and connect to SWC1 I'll heat shrink it all then put a small connector between it and the Clockspring ............

The next pic is disassembled Switch, and then standard Circuit with 4 Micro Resistors and 4 micro "little white thingys" (diodes maybe), so first thing I did was unsolder this lot and bin them.

Now multimeter the board to see what to connect to what

Next up I bridged the connector pads where the 4 (diodes ?) came off, then found I now have 4 times working switches with a 0.002 ohm resistance

There was a ton of Multimetering the circuit boards between each step. Now the nicest way to actually do this would be to get suitable ohm Micro Resistors and solder them across the pads, then one would only need to bridge 2, 3, 4, and 5 internally before the wiring plug and voila only 2 wires one end earthed and the other to SWC1 !!

But I wasn't brave enough this time round, so I just bridged the pads .............

I'll get it all working first with my ham fisted method, there is a bunch of room inside the steering wheel for a matchbox sized enclosure full of resistors and heatshrink

Once the Mk 1 set is done I may well have a bash with micro resistors, (or find someone else to do this for me)

See the tiny components I unsoldered next to the ball point pen in 2nd to last picture, that and bridging the pads with solder was enough of a challenge for me today

Switches are now all reassembled and working a treat, I'm now waiting on my resistors coming before Mk1 step 2

Notice as well that each switch has double contacts, so 8 contact pads = 4 switches
 

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#57 ·
No sensible comments then ??

Like .............

"If you weren't such a blind old git you'd be able to solder micro resistors first go with ease" etc etc etc :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Get ya all asses over to NW Scotland on holiday and come visit me then !!
It's very boring for me trying to talk to my Customers and Mel / Neighbour about what I'm doing, cos they just stare back blankly as they haven't got a scooby doo what I'm rattling on about :laugh:

Yeah, I do have good "Reading Glasses", a big illuminated Magnifier on a stand and a tiny tipped gas solder iron, and I will have a go at it on the spare set of switches when they arrive, but the ones I have now will get it all working, the ordinary resistors I have right now are small enough to partially slide inside the little black plug so will carry on as is for now, see pics below ;)

Basically, the 470 ohm is for Volume + Button (switch plug pin 3), and the 1k ohm is for Call Answer (switch plug pin 2) .............

I'm now waiting on the other 6 different value Resistors to arrive via postie to complete the Left and Right Switch Packs :wink:

When the remaining 2 are done for the Right Switch I intend to "pot" the end of the little plug with liquid epoxy so it is all solid with just the 2 wires sticking out of each one, that should make for a nice compact and solid assembly. I'm getting better now with this very small soldering lark, will hopefully progress to micro resistors etc soon >:D

When Mk1 is complete I will then test it all IRL driving conditions, and if it's all good after a while I may have a bash at internally mounting the resistors in the switches >:D

Courier has just arrived with what looks like a Paddle Shift Steering Wheel, and maybe something else for the SLK, I'm hoping I'll have all the bits by the weekend :grin:

Enjoy ................
 

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#58 ·
Back again after a busy weekend, not all on the SLK either :frown:

So, here's the pics of the final extra wiring install, first ones show me installing the original R170 Airbag and horn pairs into the new C Class 10 hole yellow Steering Column to Clockspring plug. Then onto the other 2 sub looms that go to H/U for Switches, and the newly made Paddle Shift pair that will end up connected to the Shifter.

The Yellow Horn Wire is an earth so can also be used for the Common - on the Switches and the Paddles :wink:

That leaves 4 cores, SWC 1 and SWC 2 for the Head Unit, in reality I will only need SWC1 I think, but it's connected through there anyways in case I decide to do a future mod like a later model MB Steering Wheel with many more buttons >:D

The other pair are Paddle Upshift and Paddle Downshift, and like the SWC 1 and SWC 2 wires I soldered on the correct connectors and then put them all in the yellow Socket in their correct positions.

All going well you think, and so did I ..............

After verifying that the wiring is all good as far as the Yellow Plug, I refitted all the Dash under panels, then fitted the new Steering Angle Sensor / Clockspring assembly, and the Steering Wheel etc.

Started it up, Airbag light off, Horn Working etc etc, ABS / ESP light on as it requires the turn wheel lock to lock procedure, so I turn it all the way to full right lock, back to full left lock TWANG!!

Clockspring Ribbon Cable broken, now got SRS and ESP lights up :crying:

The reason is simple ..............

The idiot breakers who took it off, and me being in a hurry late in the day didn't check that it was centred ..................

When you take one of these off any Car, you should always make sure the Front Wheels are in straight ahead position, then remove Steering Wheel, and as you remove the screws from the Clockspring assy, they stop it from turning, and so hold it in the Centre Position, but of course the retard who removed this one didn't do that and I did the assumption is the Mother of all ...... bit !! DOH !!

So another Clock Spring has been ordered, and I'll be sure to run the screws all the way in and then by hand carefully I'll turn it left all the way and and then back 2 to 2.5 turns to make sure it is centred !!

At least I've only got to take the Steering Wheel off to do it :wink:

Piccies:-
 

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#59 ·
OK, got an hour on the SLK this morning, another C Class Clockspring arrived via Postie, so I whipped the Steering Wheel off, checked the new one was centred, then fitted it, put Steering Wheel back on, and cleared SRS and ABS Codes, then reset Steering Angle Sensor and went for a drive.

SRS and ABS / ESP now stayed off, all hunk dory.

Next up is to finish off the Resistors and then all the Switches will be working, Paddles will be working down to the coiled up 2 Core wires under the Shifter Trim Panel.

Hopefully I'll be at that stage by Sunday night if my customers will stop breaking their Cars :laugh:

I have purchased a spare R170 Tiptronic Gear Shifter, so I can do the mods to it, basically solder in 3 wires, and get them exiting nicely into a suitable Wiring Plug, then I can install the modded Shifter into the Car and get Paddles working >:D

Once they're working there will be one last mod to do ...............

The Paddles will work fine, but if you accidentally hit a Paddle when the Car is in P R or N, (anything except Drive D), then the TCU will pop an Implausible Code and the Tiptronic / Paddles will stop working until Ignition off / restart ...................

So that is what the third wire from Shifter is for, we need a small "comparator circuit" to look at the D signal from Shifter, and when it sees that it Switches the Paddles Wires "on" via a 2 pole relay, the circuit I am waiting on details, or maybe even a ready built D-Enable Module from a Paddle Shift guru in USA :wink:

No biggie, it is quite hard to accidentally hit a paddle, as my Steering Wheel has the, IMHO nicer, "subtle variety" of MB Paddles, rather than the naffing great "Spock Ears" that manufacturers seem to fit these days :grin:

I just might have to use them with care until the Paddle Guru guy gets time to sort this out with me ;)

Cheers for now,

Dave
 
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#60 ·
Well after 2 days locked in the Workshop, phones switched off .........................

Steering Wheel buttons all working 99.9 % faultlessly after a lot of messin', at one point it was all gonna get chucked in the bin :frown:

I have Volume + and - , Call Answer / Hang Up, Track /Radio \/ and /\ and then the 2 extreme left "Menu Buttons" are programmed that upper one Switches to Radio, lower one Switches to Media SD Card ................

The 2 "Menu Buttons" are redundant on the R170 as the Dash Cluster does not have all the Menus etc that the "more modern" Benzes like W220 R171 and W203 etc have, so I made good use of them 2 as well >:D

The hassles I had is due to where I put the Resistors in the Switch Plugs, it is very tight when fitted on the Airbag Assy, the wires have to bend at almost 90 degrees as soon as they come out of the Plug, this fractured a couple of Resistors on the first attempt :crying:

Second go, both Switches were fine, but somehow, despite me modifying the SWC 1 Pin that came out of the Horn Button Module thingy, it was somehow corrupting the resistances, they worked fine on multimeter but the H/U stubbornly refused to recognise a button press :frown:

I ended up wiring both Switches direct to the SWC1 wire from Clockspring and bingo they all programmed in a treat :grin:

Steering Wheel is all assembled for the final time now, and it's all working fine :nerd:

The only thing left to do is modify the "spare shifter" which arrived yesterday, and then fit that and plug it in to the 2 "Paddle Wires" that are waiting patiently coiled up behind the Shifter that is in the Car >:D

It's not as tidy as I'd have liked with wiring inside the Steering Wheel, but I only see that when I remove the Air Bag, and it's all connected nicely and won't chafe etc, so that'll do for now................

I've proved it works and can be done !!

I have a complete spare Airbag with Buttons, one day, I will build the Mk2 Switch / Horn Button Module set to get it all as neat as I would like .................

The trick, from what I've learned in all this will be to ditch the little MB Circuit Board in Horn Button Module, and run all the Wiring etc inside it's Plastic Casing, and use a smaller custom made PCB for Horn Buttons and Clocksprings Plug in pins !!

Then I'll also use Micro Resistors inside the Switches themselves, and just hard wire to the Pins where the Clockspring Plugs in, which is what I've done with the Paddles :nerd:

When one of our youngsters comes up, or when I work out how to do a U Tube Video on my Android Phone, I'll do a Video, but for now you will have to work it out from pictures ...........

The first couple show the (untidy) wiring behind Airbag, but hell it all works, that's the real result :wink:

I know I can get it tidier though, using the OEM Plugs like I have on the Paddles, (remember this is OEM for a W203 / R171) and not R170 which had none of this malarky :wink:

The Brown wire coiled up down by Steering Wheel Bolt is actually SWC 2 to the Android H/U, I'm not using this right now, both Left and Right Switches are wired to White SWC 1 .............

There is a very slight glitch .................

I will probably try the Left Switch on SWC 2 channel as I think 8 buttons on SWC 1 is too much for one channel :nerd:

On a very odd occasion, the H/U mixes up the SD Media (lower Menu) button for the "Track / Radio Station Down \/ button", it has happened twice now after many many switch off and re boot fiddle with buttons cycles :|

Other than that everything works flawlessly. I think just having 4 buttons (Right set) on SWC 1, and 4 Buttons (Left set) on SWC 2 will make that go away ................. 15 minutes at weekend to try that.

The resistances on these 2 Buttons are nowhere near each other in ohms value by the way, I'm certain it is to do with the H/U getting mixed up, it copes fine with just 6 Buttons programmed onto SWC 1 Channel :wink:

Pix :-
 

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#61 ·
Hi again :grin:

It's my OCD with the way it's done at the moment, it is just not how I'd like it to be and I know I can improve it with a Mk 2 version !!

Ok so it all works, just the one minor glitch that happens sometimes where the 2 Left side Buttons get "confused" as my last post states.

The Blue wire has a spade, it is the ground through the Clockspring, which earths the whole metal Airbag Frame containing the Horn Button Module into which the Paddles are plugged as per factory.

Everything inside the Steering Wheel (Horn Relay Buttons, blue arrows in the pic below, Paddles and H/U Buttons) are all NO Switched Grounds, the H/U's Steering Wheel Control Buttons have to all have a different resistance to earth for them to be individually identified by the H/U ...................

Between 25 ohm to 1k ohm seems to be working OK.

I am going to use a minimum of 100 ohm difference in the mk2 set of Parts, as I think the 2 buttons that sometimes get "confused" maybe they are too close after all, one is 180 ohm and one is 150 ohm !!

Yellow is the Horn Relay Wire, which connects through into Horn Button Module and the White SWC 1 is now hard wired to the 2 Whites from the Switches resistor packs, but this should be in between the 2 Paddles "out to Clockspring + & - Cables" in the top 3 pin plug, you can just about see where I chopped it off in the post above :grin:

I have now bought a big chunk of "Veroboard", (prototyping PCB board), and I intend to get rid of the larger green Mercedes pcb which has all the redundant CAN stuff on it ...............
My first attempt has proved it is unworkable to re jig it as it's a multi layer jobbie, hence I had to bypass the MB Circuitry and wire direct to Clockspring SWC 1 White wire :frown:

I think I will also Wire SWC 2 to the Left Switch Pack, and keep SWC 1 on the Right Switch Pack, I will do this over the weekend to prove (or not) the Switch Confusion theories :nerd:

I will make my own simple circuit board to go in the plastic housing, it should be electrically quite a simple circuit, the whole chebang can then run through this when done, and I can rewire the Clockspring to this, as it was intended by MB on the Car models that this Steering Wheel actually came off of :smile:

I may try and integrate the 8 resistors inside here as well, but bear in mind, some guys would find this easy, sadly micro electronics is not my forte, I'm just having a go out of necessity :wink:

Pics :-
 

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#62 ·
V8 Install

OK, I'm back again he he he :laugh:

The V8 M113 ball is rolling and the snowball effect has kicked in, things are happening very quickly at the moment ...............

I've 99.9% bought a V8 S500 to break up for all the parts >:D

Been doing some digging, there is an M113 V8 Car built by a German Tuning Company, really nice install, the sort of job I am looking to acheive, it is using all MB Electronics and looks just like it came from the MB Factory :grin:Regarding the V8 Conversion, I'll post up a few pics below ................

The Silver V8 Car is the one with the M113 5.0 done by a German Tuning firm and the Blue Car is my V6 R170, it looks obvious to me that both F & R Brakes are uprated, the Calipers on the Silver Car definitely look like V8 S500, not sure if the Discs are S500, but as I've just bought a W220 V8 S500 to break up for this project I should have most all of the bits for the V8 Conversion .................

1st two Pics is the V8 Donor Car, got to go to get that, about 120 mile round trip :wink:

After that is the German V8 Silver R170 and my V6 Blue R170 , I'll try and get the piccies side by side so you guys can see the comparisons, I've just looked comparing my S Class Brakes, Calipers look identical to the Silver V8 R170 so I will be keeping all these parts and have a test fit session one day soon, If they fit then I'll overhaul the Calipers. I'm not sure about the Discs .............

The Discs on S500 actually look a bigger offset, can anyone tell me if the ones on the Silver V8 Car look like SLK 32 R170 Brakes ?????
Be handy to know exactly what they came off ;)


Have a close look at the 2 Engine Bays, everything has stayed where it is located on the V6 Car, even the Radiator on the Silver V8 SLK is still on it's original mountings, (see the 2 square holes in the Hood Landing Panel with bolts in them)

It is just the Fan Shroud and Top Hose that is different, Top Hose looks like a V8 one, however I'm wondering if he is using a Viscous Fan on the Water Pump Boss looking at that offset Fan Shroud, but that said, the Fan Controller is still on the Left Inner Wing, same place as mine, however all said and done the Cooling Fan will hardly be a big issue to sort out :grin:

I reckon this will be one very easy conversion >:D

https://youtu.be/OoQksOt3d5g

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#63 ·
Ah well, I went to Glasgow to get that W220 parts car, a neighbour drove me down there.

I took some tools and parts to get the Airmatic Suspension up, but upon arrival it was obvious to me that there was no way on gods earth that Car was going to drive 180 miles back to mine :(

I spent a couple of hours going over it, repaired the Airmatic Pipe, got it to the "No Airmatic Suspension Faults stage", but stubbornly it still refused to pump up !!

It was at this point I spotted on SDS that the Car was not charging, and it's Battery was down to 11 volts, which was probably why the Car would not pump up, and although I had a fresh Battery with me, once the Engine was warm it also developed a misfire, and there was many many other faults, and thus very little decent spare parts to be harvested for my own W220, the Engine and Trans would have required possible significant work before being able to fit it to my R170, so I packed up my gear and bid the guy farewell !!

I'm of the opinion now that I will buy a dearer Car to break up, something perhaps with a short MOT and needing an expensive repair or 2 but with good modules etc for W220 spares, and a faultless Engine, Diff and Trans for the R170, which is what the guy had described the Glasgow Car as :(

Watching a few on EBay now, will wait until they have been on a while and then make a low offer to reflect collection costs ;)

Cheers for now,

Dave
 
#64 ·
S500 discs are the wrong offset. You will need discs from an SLK32, C32/43 or CLK55 (330mm). however the calipers from the S500 will work no problem. As far as the mechanical swap goes, you should have no issues and shouldn't have to move anything. You might need exhaust manifolds from a CLK430/55 to clear the steering box. the radiator shroud that some people are using are that from a CLK55 and C43. I went with electric fans up front and no shroud or fan in the back. of the 2 fans in front, one is ran by the ECU the other I run from a switch. There should be no reason to move the radiator. it's possible that the sway bar will hit the oil pan and will need to be lowered. just some observations from all my research.
 
#65 ·
Dave - just read the whole thread and absolutely love what you're doing. I shall continue to watch with interest. Sadly my knowledge of car electrics is simply "red to red, green to green and blue to bits" so some of it goes right over my head - but I do get the general gist of it.

Should be an utter animal once done >:D

Cheers, Dave (me too - us Daves love our cars!!)
 
#66 ·
Hi,
@Turdo2 ,

Thanks for the info, it's very useful, I'll get the correct 330mm discs now I know exactly which ones, I can see without removing the Wheels that the S Class ones are the wrong offset with my W220 and R170 parked next to each other ;) Good to know the Calipers will fit OK, that will save a bit of dosh :)

I'll also try and find the correct CLK V8 Ex Manifolds, will be much easier than home fabricating from stock V6 & V8 or spending mega bucks getting Custom Headers built ;)

Plenty choices Fan wise, like I said earlier, not rocket science, but I would like to use the MB stuff if at all possible as it's well over specced and runs from a PWM Signal from ME2.8 ECU.
@Mr Bounce ,

Thanks for following, there won't be a lot of action right now, as I am now using the Car for the Summer, before installing V8 this winter.

I might do some updates as I do some little jobs, like the 330mm Brake Conversion etc.

I have just changed Front Springs and Seats and both lower swivels and got rid of an annoying front end rattle over bumpy roads !!

I'm going to do the rear Springs and Spring Seats next, I have an annoying intermittent creaky squeaky sometimes on a cold dry morning, when going slowly up my drive.

It's had all new Rear Arms and Shocks, so I suspect Spring Seats, it's that kind of noise, doesn't do it when wet !!
I hadn't noticed it when I drive, but Mel took the SLK to work the other morning and as she drove up the drive I could hear it as she went past me lol

Final job on the to do list is the Prop UJ, I noticed it was very slightly tight in one place when I fitted a new Centre Bearing and Rubber way back, and it has a very slight "Proppy" type harmonic for the first mile or so from cold which disappears presumably as the UJ warms up ;)

I'll look for a s/h prop and rebuild that first then I can just swap it over, don't want the Car off the road, I'm enjoying it in the nice weather we're having right now :)

Having said that the car is driving beautifully now, with all the horrible rattles etc now gone since I got it in December and fettled it over the last few months :)

Cheers for now, Dave
 
#67 ·
Hi again,


Well that prop harmonic has gone now the weather has warmed up and since the Car has been in almost daily use, so I've scored a good used prop off EBay, will "monitor and repair if necessary" lol

I've also decided for a bit of fun, to dress the Car up a little so to all but the most expert discerning eye it will end up looking and sounding like a Brabus R170 >:D

I scored a pair of polished Stainless Roll Over Bars for £90 and a spare Handbrake for Chroming plus a few other bitties :grin:

I have just finished a quick '3 stage' exterior polishing on the Car, a light wet T Cut, G10 and Wax, all by hand, it only took me around an hour but the wee beastie has come up real nice :smile:

I decides to drive a few miles to a nice spot and get some pics ...............

Huh, try and find a nice spot near me with no tourists on Easter weekend, I waited until I thought they would be all munching their Dinner, by which time it was overcast and starting to get dark :(

The best pics I could come up with was these, and as soon as I started photos then some moron tourist had to park right next to me and around 7 of them got out of a way overloaded hire car and started wandering around, "roll on October when they all disappear again ...............

But yeah, below are the best ones I got since the Polishing :wink:

I'm going to use the 3rd one for the Desktop Wallpaper on the Android until I get a nicer one ;)

Next weekends job is to fit the Stainless Roll Over Bars, and Re Badge it as a "Brabus" assuming all the goodies have arrived ...................
I've also sent a spare Handbrake off to be Chromed, the Brabus's had no trim over their polished Handbrake also Stainless Roll Over Bars and various Brabus badges in various locations >:D

The only 5 V8 Cars Brabus ever built were all slightly different anyways lol, I have good pictures all round of 2 of them, they both have differences in Badging and Wheels from each other so as my Car is getting bigger Brakes, Wheels and M113 Engine over the coming winter this is good for a bit of fun, and will end up as a nice "Brabus replica" for sensible money :-



Initial searching suggests I can get proper 18" Brabus Wheels like the ones in the video for around £1000 needing a repaint or £2k brand new, I've just put Brand new Tyres all round my Car so the wheels will be the last job to do ;)

I certainly wouldn't be able to afford a genuine Brabus R170, and have never seen one for sale, they are like the holy grail of R170's :grin:

Next job is to Valet the dusty interior and treat the leather seats !!

Donor Car wise, I have looked at so much "sh 1 t" recently that I have now decided the way forward is to squirrel away some more Cash into the "project pot" and just buy a decent S500 for a reasonable amount (£1500 to £2k) rather than looking at all the junk for up to a grand :smile:







Cheers for now,

Dave
 
#69 ·
Hi @Turdo2 ,

Yes, I found that interesting too, 6.5 litre, like your 5.5 M113 Car it's got a gorgeous growl to it when jazzing the go pedal from low rpm :)

I've not looked but I'd imagine that 6.5 is a longer stroke than M113, probably a real torque monster lol

I think, these days, the M113 is the way to go, especially on the V6 M112 Car, because the conversion is almost all nuts and bolts, plenty cheap and available parts etc etc :)

I don't suppose you might know this, do the M112 Engine Mount Brackets fit with the V8 block and the V6 Chassis ??

I'd imagine that they bolt straight on the block, I'll measure Bell Housing to Mount Centre on my V8 W220 in a minute, as it's currently on my lift, then when I get a chance I can check it out on the R170.

I'll tell you what I have noticed and found out lately .................

1) Starter Motor is on the left side of (RHD) V6 R170, presumably to clear the Steering Box, so the Bell Housing is different on the 722.6 Tranny, whereas the (RHD) V8 W220 is on the Right Side :(
Bell Housing should swap onto the V8 Trans though IIRC, only really relevant if I want V8 Trans and Ratios especially if the V6 Trans explodes later down the line :biglaugh:

2) There is a guy who can and has successfully altered Diff and Trans ratios, Shift points etc etc in the EGS 52 module, this interests me very much as I will be using the 3.27 V6 diff at least initially, so can eventually use V8 Box and V8 EGS just with Diff Ratio re flashed if needs be :grin:

here:- https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w2...320-slk-500-daves-project-7.html#post17755174

and here:- https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w2...320-slk-500-daves-project-7.html#post17756072

3) The V6 R170 and the W220 share the same 48 teeth Reluctor Rings on ABS / ESP so that should tie in nicely :nerd:

It is my initial intention to use the V6 Trans with a freshen, perhaps build a "Franken V6 Trans" install the extra Clutch Frictions and Steels from the V8 unit and a couple of new Borg Warner Sprags whilst in there, so stock V6 ratios and and the V6 Diff, so that will all work with stock TCU, so initially I'll only be doing an Engine Swap and a Trans overhaul come the winter. The achilles heel of a V6 Trans is that it only has 3 planetary gears in the gearset where the V8 Trans has 4, however the R170 is a significantly lighter Car :) Time will tell on that scenario >:D

The Paddle Shifts are working a treat now, and because they are hard wired through the new Column Clockspring direct to the facelifts Tiptonic Shifter I don't get the delay compared to later Cars that have them going via Can Bus .......... win win :grin:

Nice to know that we can get the EGS 52's re mapped now, over and above the MB Factory Version Codings :smile:

Cheers for now,

Dave
 
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#70 ·
Hi Guys,

A few more £ spent on a bit of fun lol ...................

Not as much as you might think, I only paid £90 inc postage for the Stainless Bars, EBay good s/h :wink:

I'm going to carry on dressing the Car over the Summer, until the V8 goes in over Winter >:D

I haven't found a set of the Brabus Wheels yet at the right price, I'd like to get the same ones that were on Brabus R170 car number 5 ..............

I can get them brand new at around £850 each wheel :surprise:
There's no rush, I put brand new Avon Tyres on the stock R170 V6 Staggered set up in December, so I'd like to get some use out of them first anyways.

At a push I could get another set of S55K 18"s I bought a set of 4 last year for £500, just very slight chips around the rim edges, didn't take much to re paint them, see last pic.

Cheers for now, Dave







 
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#72 ·
Hey mate, sorry I think you tried to pm me but me inbox was full. I’ve cleared it out now so you can message me again ?
 
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#73 ·
Hi @kentaggart ,

It is not a direct fit, but it's the closest one I could find after buying a few used ones !!

You have to do a little creative fettling here and there, IIRC I carefully stripped it apart and slightly elongated one screw hole at around "2:30 o'clock" position, that way you get 2 screws of 3 in which hold it nice and secure :smile:

I also had to file the aluminum piece on the Cars Column Switches where the yellow plug fits because the new plug has 2 rows and is larger. That is a bear to get it all to line up nicely.

Still worth all the effort IMHO having that Steering Wheel with all Switches working and the Paddle Shifters is just amazing >:D

I programmed the 2 extreme Left Buttons which do Dash Menus on the C Class so that the top one switches the H/U to Radio and the bottom one switches to "Music" (SD Media Card).

P/N is 203 460 01 49

HTH,

Cheers Dave
 
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#74 ·
lol 57 year old "Boy Racer" here :wink:

Here endeth the "Brabus porn" for now*......................

Apologies for the bad pics of the door Lock Buttons, Camera kept focusing on the Door Card rather than the buttons, they are CF Bodied with the Gold B logo under a clear Crystal Dome set in the Stainless top

*Once the V8 is in there will be a somewhat pricey large bore Stainless Twin Tailpipe trim added to the upgraded full Exhaust System, and a set of 18" wheels, likely Brabus Monoblock IV's :grin:

pix:-







 
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#76 ·
Hi,

I don't think I'll be buying the Wheels new lol but they do come up from time to time needing a refurb ;)

We were sat outside a local Hotel last weekend having lunch in the sunshine, Car was parked across the street and there was a bunch of Sports Car nerds mainly in MX5's and some older MG cars discussing my SLK ..................

They didn't know it was my Car, and were sat at a table next to us .................

One or 2 of them sounded fairly like they had a half a clue about R170's with a head full of stats, but they obviously hadn't sussed the 16" Wheels, because they were saying stuff like "There was only a few of those it's quite rare" and even "You can tell it's a Brabus by the Stainless Rollbars" etc etc etc ho hum ...............

I was itching to "pipe up" but Mel was shaking her head :laugh:

I have now seen footage of 3 out of 5 of 'em, two are Black and one Silver and every one has different items, badges, wheels, handbrake etc, so when mine barks like yours does, has the 18" Wheels and big Brakes yeah I reckon it'll confuse the hell out of a lot of folk over here in UK !!

Thing is, all the Brabus Cars were pre facelift, so it'd never fool a real MB Buff :wink:

But to me it's just a bit of fun project Car and I absolutely love the Lazulithe Blue ;)

Cheers Dave
 
#77 ·
Hi again,

OK, been doing some research for Transmission choices relating to putting V8 into V6 Car :grin:

I'll post up the results here so I know where to look it up when I've forgotten it all in a few months time >:D

R170 V6 SLK 320 uses a 3.27 Diff Ratio.

R170 V6 SLK 32 Kompressor uses a 3.07 Diff Ratio.

R170 32 Kompressor Transmission is the same part number as W220 V8, as are the internal gearsets.

So with a 3.07 Diff Ratio, we can use either a standard factory SLK 32 TCU, (might be a bit thin on the ground good used), or with SDS we can Version Code the 320 V6 Cars EGS 52 with SLK32 Coding.

One of the W202 Diffs is the same as R170 SLK 32 , p/n A 202 350 97 14 , also easier to get (in UK) is from a C 250 TD , 3.07 ratio, p/n A 202 350 62 14 which looks to be the same casing, again, the R170 V6 Shafts should fit.

There is also the W203 C220 CDI Diff which I think will bolt into the R170 V6, use the same Shafts, this has the 2.87 Ratio, same ratio as the W220 but the W220 diff Casing is huge and will not fit R170, I've already looked / measured my W220 to see if that was an option ;) I will examine the Diff in Mels C220 CDI, shape mounts etc, I can get them easy and cheapish in UK.

So the nuts of it is if you want to use the V6 Komp / V8 W220 Transmission for strength, then if using 3.07 Diff use SLK 32 Coding in V6 TCU, if using the 2.87 Diff then use W220 TCU or it's Coding. If using the 3.27 320 diff we'll have to see if that guy I know can do the custom coding for V8 Trans / 3.27 Diff Combo, or use the 320 V6 Trans, Diff and TCU.

When I install the V8 in my 320 I will initially be using the V6 Trans with the 3.27, later down the line I might do swapsies especially if it lunches the V6 Tranny.

Chow for now, Dave
 
#79 ·
Hi again .....................

OK, so now we have the Trans and Diff combos sussed out perfectly, what will work with what, and what is easiest and what is harder, what's the next step into the MB Electronics to categorically prove what I'm certain I already know ??

Well, lets make absolutely certain, belt and braces etc etc, that once I've done all the graft, installed a V8, wired and plumbed it in, I can just insert my V6 Cars Key, turn the Key and she will fire up, re born as a V8 :grin:

A spare ME2.8 V8 M113 ECU is winging it's way to me as we speak, along with some new software and USB programmer that wasn't available when I did the last Immo Clone, (which was on a like for like V8 S Class ECU change job).

When the new gear and ECU gets here, first up is install the software on one of the spare Dells and get it up and running with BIOS and RAM upgrades. I'll build a Win 7 Stand alone machine this Sunday.

After that, I shall lock the doors one Saturday, with my V6 R170 "in da building" and remove its V6 ECU.

New gear, new software, new procedure ........................

Open up the V6 ECU and solder a teeny wire on the boot leg.

Plug in power, earths and com line to the ECU, and connect the boot wire, plug the programmer into the Laptop and take a copy dump from the ECU, separate the 3 files and save EEPROM file.

Carefully remove the soldered boot wire, and put the V6 ECU back together, plug ECU back into Car, make certain it starts and runs OK. Remove V6 ECU and place it carefully somewhere else.

Now strip the V8 ECU, repeat soldering boot wire, connections etc and plug it into the programmer and laptop.

Take another .bin Dump from V8 ECU separate and save it..........

Make copies of the V6 and V8 EEPROM Files, now I have 4 files, V6 Original, V6 # 2, plus V8 Original and V8 # 2 !!

Open V6 # 2, copy the lines of immo code and overwrite the same lines in the V8 # 2 file, now over write the modified V8 # 2 File into the V8 ECU EEPROM.

Take another dump from V8 ECU, save it, and run compare, it should now contain the V6 Immo Data, but it will still be a V8 ECU in terms of it's programming and version coding !!

Unsolder boot wire, disconnect programmer and reassemble ECU.

Plug ECU into my V6 Car, plug in SDS, switch on Ignition and in SDS Check the Drive Authorisation is enabled >:D

If it is, belt and braces mk II, remove SLK Key, stick it well away from Ignition switch, and apply power to the Ign Live Circuit without key, Drive Auth should now show as not enabled as it's not seeing the Key :smile:

Remove ECU, keep it safe until winter when I bolt the V8 in :wink:

The proof of the pudding is now under it's crust :grin:

Put V6 ECU back, start the Car all is well.

Jobs a good 'un, go to pub to bore everyone to tears about my new software, Mercedes immobilisers etc etc and celebrate >:D

What could possibly go wrong :biglaugh:

Nah, seriously, I am now certain this will work fine, I wouldn't risk it until Winter if I wasn't :wink:

Watch this space .....................

Cheers Dave
 
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